What about those selling "reluctantly" some piece of equipment? I'm tempted to say: if you are so reluctant, don't sell it! Or maybe they try to convey the impression that they are doing the prospective buyer a favor?

Dear Bernard,

You've never been broke, then? Or too ill/old to use something? If you had been, you'd know what "reluctantly" means in this context.

We do seem to be living in the age of the superlative adjective. Relatively mundane items or events are regularly described as legendary, epic or iconic. I guess "beloved" is just another example. I wouldn't be at all surprised to be driving down the street and see a sign for an epic garage sale.

We do seem to be living in the age of the superlative adjective. Relatively mundane items or events are regularly described as legendary, epic or iconic. I guess "beloved" is just another example. I wouldn't be at all surprised to be driving down the street and see a sign for an epic garage sale.

No! This is like a total exaggeration! "Stupendous" is the base-line.

I blame a lot of it on sports reporting. Sports are so inherently dull, except for the participants, that the "trousers on fire" school of reporting is the only option for incompetent writers and commentators.

Then again, financial reporting is no better. Where else would a 1% drop in the value of a currency or share be reported as "plummeting"?

i have 'reluctantly' sold gear in the past...being out of work and hoping to find rent money. i hated doing it but there was little real choice at that moment.
if anything is beloved to me it would be the image i created or the act of photographing itself.

i have 'reluctantly' sold gear in the past...being out of work and hoping to find rent money. i hated doing it but there was little real choice at that moment.
if anything is beloved to me it would be the image i created or the act of photographing itself.

Exactly. Given the choice of a roof over my head, and (say) a camera or a vehicle or almost anything else that has been heavily involved with the best times of my life, the roof wins. Likewise food, though I've never been so poor I couldn't afford that.

My wife is all that I value above food and shelter for myself; and food and shelter for her is more important than food and shelter for me.

really?
beloved?
every time i see an ad that starts with the above line it gives me great pause...beloved?
maybe there is something lacking in me but i don't think i have ever 'beloved' any piece of gear that i have ever owned!
tell me, do you have a beloved?

You are a totally heartless person, back alley. Probably a product of the digital age! ) I love my Rollei MX that I have owned since I was 17 and I love my Rolleii 35 that I bought when they first came out in the 60s and I used to photograph every moment of my kids' childhood. I also have affection for my Leica IIIF that I acquired about 25 years ago. I gave the Leica IIIB that has been in the family since the 30s to my daughter who is a photographer and has it on display in her living room.

A Canon EF (the film kind) is just part of the family and was a real work horse for years.

But you will never see "beloved" in an ad if I decide to sell any of them which I probably won't.

For example: “Wanted: Someone with taste, means and a stomach strong enough to buy this erstwhile house of ill-repute in Pimlico. It is untouched by the 20th century as far as conveniences for even the basic human decencies are concerned. Although it reeks of damp or worse, the plaster is coming off the walls and daylight peeps through a hole in the roof, it is still habitable judging by the bed of rags, fag ends and empty bottles in one corner. Plenty of scope for the socially aspiring to express their decorative taste and get their abode in The Glossy, and nothing to stop them putting Westminster on their notepaper. Comprises 10 rather unpleasant rooms with slimy back yard, 4,650 Freehold. Tarted up, these houses make 15,000.”

Of course there may be some (though Doubtful)
That would prefer an Ad to say

Selling a piece of Sh*t .... Anyone Interested

LOL! I've written ads that said that, although not in so many words. And the items sold! ;-)

I'm not offended or put off when I see someone using "beloved" to describe a piece of equipment. It just isn't the term I'd use to describe how I have enjoyed and/or admire piece of equipment. It would be like saying a particular piece of equipment is 'accursed' if it didn't work properly, 'blessed' if it worked perfectly all the time, and 'beloved' because you had a personal relationship of an intimate nature with it... 16th Century terms ...

I've had to sell some equipment in the past that I used for some of my best work, and that I'll never be able to replace. That's 'beloved.' I'd have never sold any of it if I hadn't had to make a choice between lenses and food at the time.

That's a bummer! I hope maybe someday you will be able to replace them assuming an equal replacement.

As to the use of the term in such a way that it would be understood to be figurative, that wouldn't bother me. But in wouldn't be figurative in relation of my wife, my kids, and my grandkids. As much as I like my Fujinon ST901 and Fujinon lenses, saying they were beloved could only be figurative. And even so, I am not sure I have ever used beloved that way for equipment.

There is something lacking, at least grammar-wise, that undermines your opinion. "Beloved" is not a verb.

The noun and adjective are just right when used genuinely. Let's not throw our beloved baby out with the bath water.

John

if i can't play with my nouns and verbs then what can i play with?

i'd also like to point out that i am not offended when someone uses 'beloved' in terms of their gear, but i do find it confusing/odd and it sticks out for me...also, my original post was more about me and my reaction and wondering how others might see or feel about the word.

i'd also like to point out that i am not offended when someone uses 'beloved' in terms of their gear, but i do find it confusing/odd and it sticks out for me...also, my original post was more about me and my reaction and wondering how others might see or feel about the word.

All in fun, Joe.

I've got a soft spot for "Beloved" because it's used so often in mystic poetry for God. Not sure I ever used it for a thing. Although "my beloved GR" doesn't sound half-bad.

In this context. / contest - do you really treasure your cameras and lenses ?
I confess to chucking the plastic Sony cameras in a bag and arranging lenses around them without further protection.
If they get scratched , so what .
Maybe it,s because they are plastic as I would never dream of doing that with the M8 or even the cheap Pansonic L1 / Olympus 14-42 . For that matter my Kontaxes !
Perceived "value"over true cost ?
Is one more Dee loved than another ?
Just a bit of fun .
dee

I have cameras that I am quite fond of, but unless one of them learns how to make me a sandwich, or take care of me when I am ill, or laugh at one of my jokes, I don't think that they will ever be considered beloved.

It is common practice in English to use the word "love" with inanimate objects, in the absence of a more suitable equivalent, and I believe the hearer knows enough to make adjustments in their understanding of the word to fit the circumstances.

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